The only benefit of gaining rank goes to the enemy. The higher your rank, the more LP they get when they blow you up. Of course, this works in your favour if you can blow up high ranking enemy militia. Except, I don't know of anyone who targets the enemy based on rank. Probably because there is no quick, unintrusive way to determine rank during the heat of battle. (Bringing up the character show info window in the heat of battle is neither quick or unintrusive.)
This blog post isn't to suggest that there be a quick way to determine rank. We certainly don't need a rank column in the overview. We have more than enough columns to deal with as it is. That, and who cares. The rank adjustment to the LP reward likely isn't all that high anyhow. (Perhaps this requires some testing. Take two pilots of greatly differing rank, flying identical ships, what is the LP reward for killing each of them?)
What I am going to suggest is that rank have some added utility beyond being an LP reward multiplier.
What if rank gave fleet bonuses to those in fleet, wing and squad command positions? The kicker? Without requiring any leadership skills. Granted, the bonuses should be small, and reserved to the upper half of the rank hierarchy. These rank bonuses would further act as a multiplier to any leadership skill bonuses a character may also possess.
I'm not sure how long it takes currently to achieve the highest faction warfare rank (the Gallente Luminaire General or the Amarr Divine Commodore, as two examples), but I'm figuring it should take approximately 2 years of faction warfare involvement to reach maximum rank.
Another possibility is to give LP store discounts to the lower half of the rank hierarchy. Again, the bonuses should be small, maybe topping out at a 3% discount (which is on top of what ever other warzone discounts the militia as a whole receives.)
Rank should have its privileges.
Thoughts on the idea? It's obviously not fully fleshed out, but hopefully it will generate some further discussion and an evolution of ideas related to faction warfare rank.
The first thing I want to change is that I should get rank for killing people. Currently it's just plexes, IIRC.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Though I would include plexing and missions into the equation. Make rank revolve around every aspect of the FW lifestyle. (Yes, I just rewrote for you what I already wrote below.)
DeleteRank gets awarded based on your standing to the... either the faction or the militia, I can't remember which. You get standings for completing plexes.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Venge Captain for Minmatar.
Outstanding idea. The old military adage "Rank has its privileges" certainly should mean something for the position holder other than being worth more LP to a shooter. I also like your idea regarding fleet bonuses. In the military if you serve under an officer/NCO that is the senior person present you can usually get perks for that. For example, in the Navy if your boss is the senior officer present you usually get to leave the ship first for liberty port visits. So a minor fleet bonus from the senior FW commander would be a positive benefit for holding certain ranks.
ReplyDeleteYou get a rank for every unmodified 1.0 in standing with the militia corp. Every advancement gives you a considerable boost in faction standing. Running FW missions was/is a very quick way to get rid of bad empire standing.
ReplyDelete@Ming @Kirith So basic. I would like to see Rank based off many factors. Enemy kills. Plexing, both offensive and defensive (LP rewarded in this regard.) As well as missioning. Rank revolve around every aspect of the FW lifestyle.
DeletePersonal opinion is that these types of ranking systems are just epeen, too easy to exploit and I generally ignore them. That applies double to EVE where your 'rank' is measured by the actual impact you have on the game world. Making anything dependant on rank is just asking for trouble.
ReplyDelete"it should take approximately 2 years of faction warfare involvement to reach maximum rank"
There's the problem. Is that two years of a normal gamers involvement? Which would be around 3 months (max) of some botters CPU time. Or two years of botters CPU time? About 16+ years of a normal gamers life.
Well, since I would propose that Rank include a myriad of different conditions to attain, I'm pretty sure botting would not be an option, especially since one of those criteria would be enemy player kills.
DeleteSo then to be a great fleet booster in Null, I have to be in FW and get a high rank?
ReplyDeleteSo now either all Null alliances join FW and the average person cries in pain because going to jita is a bigger pain, or every alliance has an alt alliance in FW for leadership toons.
Fair point.
DeleteThe Rank fleet boosting bonus would only work in faction warfare space. That's where the rank was given, where it has meaning, where the bonus is awarded.
Easy fix: no more alt accounts. You get one account, 3 toon spots, and that's it. Want to have a fleet at your command for PvE or mining, or someone doing the cloaky-booster BS? Great. Get out, be social, and make friends to help you do those things.
Delete